Punch left Hookes' ears bleeding, court told

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David Hookes was felled by a single punch to the cheek which
left him unconscious with blood trickling out of his ears on the
night he was fatally injured, a Supreme Court jury heard today.

As a result of the blow, Hookes hit his head on the roadway
outside St Kilda's Beaconsfield Hotel on January 18 last year. He
died in hospital the next day.

Witness Shaun Graf gave the evidence on day four of the trial of
Zdravko Micevic, 23, who is contesting a manslaughter charge over
the death of the former Test cricketer.

Hookes, 48, the then Victorian cricket coach, was drinking at
the hotel with friends and Victorian and South Australian players
and staff when he had an altercation with a security officer at the
venue.

According to Mr Graf, Cricket Victoria's operations manager,
Hookes was pursued by a group of security officers after being
ejected from the hotel.

He said Hookes' friends attempted to get him into a waiting car
in nearby Cowderoy Street but were stopped by the security
officers.

"I ran around to the other side of the car because security were
trying to stop David from getting into the car," Mr Graf said.

"He was out of the car. I turned and saw one of the bouncers had
tried to pull him down to the ground."

Mr Graf said Hookes attempted to get out of the officer's
grasp.

"He turned to get up and said 'I'm out of your hotel', and the
next minute he got hit,'' he said.

"It was a left (hand punch). It hit David on the left side of
the cheek."

Mr Graf said Hookes instantly lost consciousness when his head
hit the road.

"There was a bit of blood that had already started coming out of
his ears," he said.

Mr Graf is the first witness to testify that he saw the
punch.

Terry Forrest, QC, for Micevic, alleges the blow was in
self-defence because Hookes had punched him twice.

'Forceful exchanges'

South Australian cricket coach Wayne Phillips said Hookes was
aggressive and resisted attempts by security officers to make him
leave the hotel.

He said Hookes was removed from the hotel by a security officer
in a 'half-Nelson'-style reverse headlock for no apparent reason,
triggering a confrontation outside the hotel.

"I think both were involved in some forceful language
exchanges,'' he said.

"(The security officer said) 'Why don't you just f--k off', and
David said 'You're f--ked'."

Under questioning from Mr Forrest, Mr Phillips said Hookes told
the security officers that he would have the hotel closed down.

Hookes also suggested he would publicly criticise the hotel on
his radio show, he said.

Mr Phillips said Hookes resisted attempts to get him into a
waiting car, away from the officers.

"David Hookes was very, very angry?" Mr Forrest asked.

"I'd certainly say aggressive, yes," he replied.

'Dragged him a little bit'

Victorian cricketer Rob Cassell said Hookes was repeatedly
pushed down and dragged along by the security officers on Cowderoy
Street.

"They grabbed him, pushed him on to the ground and dragged him a
little bit."

He said he and Mr Graf tried to shield Hookes from the security
officers before he was struck.

"I saw the bouncer punch Hookesy. I was probably five metres
away away from where Hookesy was hit."

Cassell said Hookes was struck with a "left hook-type" of punch
when his hands were by his sides.

"He went quite stiff and fell backwards and hit his head on the
ground.

"I went over to Hookesy and held his head."

Cassell, who consumed one stubbie of beer at the cricket match
and ten pots at the hotel, accepted he was affected by alcohol but
denied he threw any punches.

He said Hookes repeatedly swore at security officers after his
ejection.

Victorian coach Greg Shipperd, who was then Hookes' assistant,
also gave evidence today.

He said he had not see anything on that night to explain why
Hookes was ejected and subsequently punched outside the hotel.